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Saturday, November 23, 2013

2013 Topps Chrome #26 Carlos Ruiz

I wanted to wait until the Carlos Ruiz re-signing was official before I posted anything with my thoughts on the return of arguably one of the more popular Phillies over the past decade. I was initially happy to see that Ruiz would be returning, especially in light of the slow development of his potential replacements, but I was a little shocked to see that the length of the contract was three years with a club option for a fourth year. At most, I thought the Phillies would try to re-sign Ruiz to a one year deal with perhaps a vesting option for a second year.

Ruiz will be 37 when the 2016 season begins, and there's a good chance he'll only be catching half of the team's games at that point, at the very most. In any event, my initial shock at the length of the contract slowly wore off when I read a few key articles on the signing, basically opining, "Well what else were the Phillies supposed to do?"

Ruiz was reportedly close to signing with the Red Sox and reuniting with Shane Victorino, but Boston wasn't willing to add on a guaranteed third year. Top catching prospect Tommy Joseph missed significant time in 2013 with a concussion and former top catching prospect Sebastian Valle has slowly dropped down the depth charts as he's struggled against minor league pitching. Neither of these guys, nor recent back-ups Erik Kratz or Cameron Rupp, are equipped to be the team's every day catcher in 2014. Guys like Brian McCann and Jarrod Saltalamacchia were out there, but the Phillies have too much money tied up elsewhere to have made a serious run at either of them.

So Chooch is back, and it will be great to see the familiar #51 behind home plate in 2014. But I wonder if I’ll feel the same way before the start of the 2016 season?

Mauricio Robles (11/5/13) - Outrighted off the 40-man roster and became a minor league free agent.

Coming BackCesar Jimenez (11/15/13) - Signed to a minor league contract and invited to spring training.Carlos Ruiz (11/21/13) - Resigned by the Phillies to a three-year contract with a club option for a fourth year.

New Additions

Marlon Byrd (11/12/13) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Pittsburgh Pirates.